Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ICE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James lowered Intercontinental Exchange from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $167.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $124.34 and a 12-month high of $169.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.06.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. Equities research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.66%.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $932,480.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,080. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart Glen Williams sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $114,742.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,955,212.20. The trade was a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,358 shares of company stock valued at $5,535,650 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 127,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,441,000 after acquiring an additional 16,130 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter worth about $212,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 297.2% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.